[supraz]

I need some advice on a 1987 Toyota Corolla SR5.

I have a cousin-in-law who just bought a 1987 Toyota Corolla SR5 and I am not sure what it would be worth to buy.

This is an SR5 with automatic transmission. The motor is a 4A-C 1600cc SOHC 8-Valve with carburetor and 87 hp.
The car has 104,525km (64950 miles), and was owned by the original owner until she gave up her driver's license.
My cousin-in-law is the co-owner of the shop that maintained the car from new so he KNOWS the mileage is correct and has been properly maintained.
The body has 2 small dents and a scratch on the passenger door which has been touched up.

The car appears to be immaculate with a single exception. The passenger side rear sill in front of the rear wheel has a bad rust spot.

What would cause this? The car was garage kept so I can only imagine a rear window leak? The other side is perfect.

Driver side frame rail underneath the battery.

What would it cost to repair the rust, and would it be worth it?

The car is very basic, but if repaired, is it worth the total cost?

Dale

 

[Matches]

Oh wow, don't see these in this condition ever any more. Bring a Trailer auction history is difficult to evaluate because the selling prices of these cars is all over the map depending on modifications and condition. The premium prices go to the GT-S of course, but seems there's still a market for old, stock Toyotas whatever the trim level.

Obviously difficult to evaluate the extent of the rust. Knowing if the rust is local to the spot, or if the door or hatch gasket is leaking will help determine the cause. I would guess that even after rust repair, you'll turn a profit on this. Don't take it from me however, I live in California, U.S. of A. so I'm about as far from a rust expert as you can get.

 

[Whitey482]

I've always liked these cars. My very first car was a 1985 Toyota Corolla GT-S. Same red paint color as this car. It had the 4A-GE, 16 valve, twin cam engine. I had no idea what I had at the time as it was cheap and good on gas back in 1998. I think I paid $1,650 for it. I should have kept it and now it would be worth a lot more money. It had been in a front end collision and come to find out the guy I bought it from literally welded the front panels back together. Instead of replacing the panels (fenders, head light supports, etc...) and bolting them on correctly. I had a fender bender and took it to a shop to replace the front bumper and they wouldn't touch it because of this.

The SR5 trim is less desirable but like Matches said there's definitely market for old Toyotas and Japanese cars in general. I think any car is worth as much as you're willing to buy. I'd definitely look over all the body panels and where they come together and bolt on and make sure none of them have been wrecked or damaged. These cars are very popular now for drifting because they are light, RWD, you can get an LSD in the GTS model. I think some of the supra suspension carries over. Dont the AE86 guys always try to snag the MK1 supra rear axles ? Pretty sure that's a mod on these cars.

Anyway, I'm kind of all over the place. Cool car.